Film Room: Why Oscar Hemming is one of the 2026 NHL Draft's best power forwards

There are defining moments in every young NHL star's upbringing. Dominant minor hockey tournaments, debuts in junior hockey, their first World Juniors tournament, and so on. 

Perhaps, in entirety, no stint is more important to a prospect’s development than their NHL draft season. As a blossoming 17-year-old hockey player, prospects find their footing, establish their identities, and build the lasting foundation of the career they want to build as they prepare for the draft. 

Unfortunately, it didn’t go that smoothly for Oscar Hemming. 

After a selection in the first round of the CHL Import Draft by the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers, the eventual Memorial Cup champions, Hemming requested a termination of contract from his club in Finland. However, Kiekko-Espoo was unwilling to let him walk. While he waited for an opportunity, he participated in practices with Kitchener, which were frequently attended by NHL clubs. Hemming then signed an agreement with the BCHL’s Sherwood Park Crusaders, which looked to be a possible resolution, before the IIHF stepped in and denied it. 

Eventually, Hemming enrolled at Boston College in the NCAA for the second semester. College hockey utilizes different transfer rules than the IIHF (which kept him out of the U18s at the end of the season), providing Hemming an opportunity to play at one of the highest levels of hockey outside the NHL. 

Finally, on December 28, Hemming made his draft-year season debut. 

High-End Flashes

Some of Hemming’s best offensive moments came immediately in his college season. He debuted at a holiday tournament and burst immediately to the forefront of draft conversations while other junior players, like his teammate James Hagens, were away at the World Juniors. 

It was in these games that he started to generate top-10, even top-five buzz from our scouting staff at Elite Prospects. 

Hemming was shot out of a cannon offensively. He was the fastest player on the ice at times, chipping pucks through traps and blowing through to pick them up on the other side. When opponents began to play more conservatively against the hulking power forward, Hemming started to pull up high in the offensive zone and hit seam passes. 

Lead Scout David St-Louis said this in a report from that first weekend Hemming played, this game against Lake Superior State:

“Oscar Hemming should become a significant riser in this draft if these first games are any indication…flying on the forecheck, engaging physically, and looking to get the puck back. He can downshift and hunt space to set up his shot, too, and he looked like a deft power-play quarterback on the half-wall, too, prioritising his shot… but also picking up an assist with a backdoor play…he seems highly comfortable at this level…”

This variance in offensive ability, the deceptive pace changes and lane manipulations at speed immediately garnered our attention. Other power forwards late in this draft simply didn’t have the high-end moments that Hemming did, especially at the NCAA level. We saw enough early on that, even off flashes alone, it became obvious he’d end up easily surpassing his original draft position. 

Physical Monster

When met with frustration and limitation offensively, Hemming was able to channel that anger into a different avenue - his physical game. He was one of the most physical players tracked in Head of Scouting Mitchell Brown’s NCAA dataset this season, and that comes as one of the youngest players in the country.

Hemming’s a bit unrefined sometimes entering contact – his weight can shift over his toes, causing him to completely miss contact – but these are things that will increasingly improve. At 193 pounds, it’s obvious that he’s still missing some “man strength” when you watch him skate. As he builds a more consistent and stable posture, his physical game against contact, both with and without the puck, will improve. 

Right now, it’s primarily the advantage of brute effort level in Hemming. He plays almost every shift at 100% and, at his mass, that’s a major separator when paired with pace. There are moments where he’ll close out on a check, finish the physical confrontation, immediately sprint to the net front, work through a series of sticks, and earn positioning for a potential flash screen or rebound. 

He may have to add refinement technically at some point, but these are excellent traits already. 

Possession Forward

This year's Stanley Cup Playoffs provided more evidence of the value of a true possession forward in the offensive zone. Having players up and down your lineup that control play deep in the offensive zone, hold the puck, and extend possessions brings so much value. Hemming does just that. 

Below the goal line, he can be a force to be reckoned with. As older, more mature opponents harassed him, Hemming rarely struggled to hold them off. A quick shift in body positioning, a free-hand activation, or an extended leg created a half-second of extra time and space. 

Hemming might not separate with his skill level in open ice, but there’s technical ability in his wall skill. He picks up pucks pretty freely, actively adjusting to the weight of the puck. Upon first touch, he typically assumes a strong posture to facilitate the rest of the sequence, a play off the back wall. There’s strong reason to believe he could become a play-extender in the NHL. 

Flashes vs. Consistency

Including the Hlinka Gretzky Cup all the way back in August, Hemming played just 25 games in his draft year. It’s a small sample size, one that really didn’t start until January and ended in early March. If Hemming maintained his performance level for the entirety of that stretch, our team would be confident in cementing him in the top 10 of our board. 

Unfortunately, the results wavered as the season moved along for Boston College. The moments that once had us debating over top-five potential faded to the background, his outputs primarily coming as a checking winger. Boston College missed the national tournament as well, cutting his season abruptly short, leaving even more games on the table. 

As we finalized our evaluation on Hemming, we primarily had to weigh out the initial flashes from him, what we saw in his first few games. It was a tricky balancing act, but ultimately, his full season capsule felt incomplete.

The Projection

There are several potential outcomes to consider here, but two became most prevalent in scouting discussions – that Hemming will likely become either a middle-six checking forward or a top-line complementary power forward. The combination of size, speed, youth, and skating ability gives Hemming a very believable path to the NHL. He has raised the baseline of physical tools high enough that he’ll play and succeed in the league.

It can’t be overstated how difficult college hockey is for a 17-year-old. Hemming was a high-school student essentially playing on Boston College's top line. Our belief in his profile and the flashes he showed amid a turbulent year led our staff to believe he could realize a top-line role in the NHL. Thus, we awarded him a top-20 ranking. 

For Hemming to realize that potential, the glimmers of high-end play will have to become more frequent. He doesn’t need to control the game through transition, but if he can connect difficult plays on a nightly basis, top-line players will continue to want to play with him, and he will help make them better in turn.